


suddenly, stubbornly

by joeyroy



Series: atla femslash week [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Azula (Avatar)-centric, F/F, Protective Azula (Avatar), Role Reversal, azula loves ty lee so much but she doesnt know how to say it, big my bad, mai knows more than she lets on, this was meant to be a one shot for femslash week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25870810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joeyroy/pseuds/joeyroy
Summary: For A:TLA femslash week!Day 1: Role Swap - TYZULAIn which Ty Lee's plan to foil an attempt on Azula's life goes wrong, and Azula has to reevaluate some things.
Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Series: atla femslash week [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877278
Kudos: 49





	suddenly, stubbornly

For as long as she lived, Azula was pretty sure she would never be able to forget the look on Ty Lee’s face when she volunteered to give her life for Azula’s. 

Maybe before, she would barely have batted an eye.Maybe then, she would have just chalked it up to the loyalty she deserved from a Fire Nation citizen.But now…nobody owed Azula anything.In fact, it was Azula who owed all of them—Zuko for the official pardon he had granted her, Mai for letting her stay in her family’s home when she found the intensity of the palace too overwhelming, even the Avatar for willingly being seen in her presence in public.Everything in her life she owed to everyone around her.But it was Ty Lee she owed most of all.

It had been Ty Lee who started her on her road back to sanity in prison, visiting every day she was in the capital and writing whenever her Kyoshi Warrior duties took her elsewhere.It was Ty Lee who had first brought Zuko to see her, maybe even before he was ready to face her, and showed him the conditions she was living in; it was Ty Lee who started the fight for her to be released from prison and rehabilitated in a gentler way.

The worst part was that at the time, Azula hadn’t even known how much they were doing for her, how little she deserved it.Even then she was unrepentant, believing that the only thing she had done wrong was to allow the scales of power to tip in her enemies’ favor.So she hadn’t understood, really, what they were doing for her.

Now that she understood, though—it made it even worse what Ty Lee was offering for her, what she was putting on the line.She stood, ignoring the guards behind her who took a step closer, even after all this time, to make sure she didn’t make a break for it.

“Ty Lee, you can’t,” she said, voice trembling a little in a way she hated utterly. 

But Zuko was looking across the table calculatingly, as if evaluating the chances Ty Lee’s plan would be successful, and Mai’s face was impassive, unfazed by the suggestion.

“It’s an interesting proposition,” said one of Zuko’s advisors, slowly. 

“You can’t,” Azula repeated, her voice rising in pitch and starting to sound desperate, even to her own ears.“You can’t do this, Zuko, you can’t let her!”

“It’s alright, Azula,” said Ty Lee soothingly, crossing the room in that gentle, graceful way she had to stand next to Azula.“It’ll be alright.I can take care of myself, it’ll work out just fine.They won’t be expecting someone who uses hand-to-hand combat, and they certainly won’t be expecting a chi blocker, right?”

Azula stared at her, trying to find the words to say to convince Ty Lee that this was a nonstarter, that she didn’t deserve this level of friendship or loyalty, that Ty Lee should really just stay away from her because otherwise she’d end up hurt again.Her hands trembled, desperate to reach out and touch Ty Lee, tell her to please not do this, to stay, _please_ , stay. 

Across the room, Zuko stood.“It is decided,” he said, in the formal Fire Lord tone that brooked no argument.“Ty Lee will act as Azula’s decoy until these would-be assassins have been captured.Azula and Mai will go to stay with Mai’s family for some time, and Azula will remain disguised as a member of the household staff there.Nobody will know about this outside of our present company.”

Azula lost it.She could never quite remember, later, what she said, but she distinctly recalled climbing on the council room table, screaming about keeping Ty Lee safe, until suddenly her body went limp, collapsed onto the table and into Ty Lee’s waiting arms. 

She was dimly aware of everyone else leaving the room quietly, Zuko talking softly to Mai, asking her guards to please wait outside the door.She lay in Ty Lee’s arms, limbs boneless and splayed out every which way, head lolling to one side.Ty Lee touched her cheek, maneuvered her so that they could look at each other, grey eyes meeting amber. 

“I’m sorry,” Ty Lee said softly, so that only Azula could hear.“I really am sorry.I have to do this, Azula, I have to protect you.”

“You chi-blocked me,” Azula said, and her voice was weak, but the accusation still came through loud and clear.“Ty Lee, I’m trying to—I can’t let you do this for me.If something were to happen—”

“It won’t,” said Ty Lee, her voice strong and confident.“I promise.”

+++

Azula spent a week pretending to be Mai’s servant girl before she heard that Ty Lee had been captured.She was in Mai’s room, clumsily pouring her another cup of tea, when the messenger came in, told Mai, “My Lady, the Kyoshi Warrior Ty Lee has been captured.Fire Lord Zuko is assembling a strike force to bring her back home and apprehend her captors.”

Mai looked stricken.“When did this happen?”

“Late last night, My Lady.”

Azula had heard enough.“Take me to the Fire Lord,” she said, infusing her tone with the kind of commanding energy she hadn’t used in years.

The man startled, standing up a little straighter.“Princess Azula?”

“In the flesh,” she drawled.“Take me to my brother.” 

Mai stood, as well, collecting her knives from the table next to her.“You heard her,” she said, and for the first time in a long time, Azula heard the hard-edged, uncompromising Mai she had known when they were teenagers.She turned, and Mai reached out to grab her hand.“We’ll find her, Azula.Don’t worry.”

Azula blinked at her, but said nothing, as the man led them out of the room and back toward the palace. 

Fortunately, Mai’s family home wasn’t far from the palace, and soon enough Azula was back in her own clothes, with one of her attendants seated behind her, fishing all the pins out of Azula’s hair from the intricate serving-girl hairstyle Mai had insisted she wear (Azula suspected this was simply out of spite).

Zuko was speaking to the room at large, working on coming up with a plan, but Azula could barely hear him over the racing of her mind.Ty Lee was in danger.Ty Lee was in danger because of her.Ty Lee was in danger because whoever had captured her thought they had Azula. 

How could she ever be forgiven for this?

She could still see Ty Lee in her mind’s eye, hair cropped shorter to match Azula’s, and stained a dark black.Ty Lee had been stoic as Mai cut the end off her long braid, but Azula was woman enough to admit she had shed a tear or two.Not that anyone had seen—she had made sure of that.Ty Lee had chosen an outfit from Azula’s wardrobe, proclaimed that she had always wanted to wear Azula’s clothes and that this was a dream come true.Azula had stood there quietly, watching Ty Lee hold up different robes in the mirror, declaring that one or another was “too princessy,” or “not mean enough.” 

“Azula?” Mai asked then, breaking her out of her reverie.“Does that sound like a good plan to you?”

Azula looked up.“Let’s go.”

+++

The problem was, of course, that Azula had no idea what the plan was.She let Mai maneuver her into the plush chair where she usually had her hair done, let a couple of the palace servants paint her face white and do her hair up in a high bun, outline her eyes in red and black, and set the heavy hairpiece on her brow bone.Mai painted her lips with Ty Lee’s own lip stain, and when Azula stood in front of the mirror, her handmaidens cooed over her, saying how striking she looked, how fierce, how like the real Kyoshi Warriors. 

All Azula could see was an unsure eighteen-year-old, draped in clothes that weren’t hers, clinging to someone who was out of reach.

She clenched her fists by her side, let herself feel the heat of her fire.If nothing else, she told herself, she had that.She would have the bright electric blue of power, and she would bring Ty Lee back.

It was either that, or die trying. 

**Author's Note:**

> I am SO LATE on all my femslash stuff and i will still be posting but probably not on schedule as of course the only times i am actually inspired to write are when i am packing for a move :)


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